So I just discovered that you can check out digital books from the Brooklyn Public Library. This is totally amazing to me, and I’ve been checking out cookbooks like crazy lately. One of those is Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, by the Post Punk Kitchen girls. I’ve been wanting this cookbook for a while but I’m such a cheapo, I’ve just been hoping someone would give it to me as a gift. But no need for that now that online books are the new thing!

I’ve wanted to get more into baking, and after spending a traumatic Saturday cleaning the oven (seriously, it sucks), the kitchen was prime for some cookie making!

I adapted the recipe a little and improvised according to what I had in the kitchen. The original recipe calls for soy milk, but I used almond instead. I didn’t have any unsweetened cocoa powder, so I used some spicy hot chocolate mix I had (which gave them a little kick!), and just sifted out the sugar from it. Finally, instead of regular sugar, I used date sugar, just cause I was curious about it and bought some recently at the store. It turned out good, but you generally have to use 2/3 cup for every 1 cup of sugar the recipe calls for because it’s sweeter. It is expensive though, so I won’t be using it too often.

Chocolate-Chocolate-Chip Walnut Cookies

Makes about 30 cookies

2 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (spicy kind optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup canola oil

1 cup date sugar

4 teaspoons ground flax seeds

1/2 cup almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

3/4 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, flax seeds, and vanilla. Slowly mix in the wet ingredients with the dry until the dough is nice and stiff, then add the walnuts and the chocolate chips. Roll the dough into small 1-inch balls, flattened to about 2 inches, and put onto an oiled baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool completely before eating.